Dimitri

The man could feel the sweat drip down the tip of his nose but did not dare to breathe too loud, let alone make a sound at the moment.

In front of him, his master sat on a comfortable brown leather chair. The flames from the fireplace caused his mask to shine an even brighter gold. Except, the man could not feel any warmth. His eyes flitted over to the small figure sitting next to his master for a few moments, before immediately looking away again, trying his hardest to stop his hands from trembling. Only he knew how hard his heart was hammering against his ribcage as he stood there.

Suddenly, the masked man reached over to the bowl of fruit at his side, causing him to flinch. He fearfully looked at his master as he brought the fruit in his hand to the small figure sitting next to him, plopping it in their mouth.

"Bernard."

The man jumped up at his name, "Yes, High Lord."

"Tell me," The masked man picked up another fruit from the bowl, once again putting it into the mouth of the figure beside him.

"Why did this happen?" His voice was cool, calm and collected, but only Bernard felt the extreme pressure of his words.

Hastily, he began to quickly explain, "We gathered intel and found that it was the work of High Lord Hester, but we were unable to understand the reason behind it."

Bernard cautiously looked at his master. Upon hearing Bernard's words, his hands stopped for a short second, before continuing to feed the person beside him.

"Hmm. Hester..."

Not hearing anything after, the masked man gave a Bernard a brief glance before looking away, causing Bernard's legs to almost go soft. He quickly added more details without delay.

"It is reported that none of the royal children were harmed, including the king and queen. Only two lower tier nobles and a servant had died," Bernard kept his eyes strictly on the floor, but upon sensing the small figure's slight movement, he could not help but gulp.

"…Just this morning, we received intel that the person who killed the animal was Alexander De-"

"Alexander De Vere?" The masked man's voice interrupted, surprise evident in his tone.

After a while, he resumed his usual nonchalance, "Do you know what I hate most?"

Bernard had mistakenly thought the question was aimed at himself, but a low voice had cut in instead, "Your plan's going awry?"

The masked man laughed joyfully, rubbing the hooded figure's head, "I do indeed hate that, but what I loathe more is everything not being in my control."

The small figure shoved his hand off his head, readjusting his robe, "You're a control freak."

The masked man only agreed with a chuckle, not minding his seemingly rude words.

Bernard, on the other hand, could no longer control his galloping heart. Although the room felt airy and warm, with his master and that person jesting around, Bernard felt that his entire being had been sunken to the lowest depths of hell.

Seeing his poor servant's rigid state, the masked man leaned against his chair and sighed, "Bernard. It's alright."

"High Lord…?" Bernard quickly looked up, bewildered by his master's sudden pardon.

"I know that you couldn't have prevented Hester's plan," The masked man spoke in a slow and rather appealing voice.

Bernard felt his entire world brighten up with his master's words. He couldn't help but hold his breath in anticipation as he continued to listen with rapt attention.

"So, Bernard, It's alright."

He quickly bowed profusely towards him, his eyes hopeful and wide with gratefulness, "Thank you Master Dimitri, no, High Lord! I'll make sure to work har-"

"But it's not enough," The High Lord, Dimitri, cut in. His voice still amicable and good-natured.

Bernard's mouth stopped mid-sentence. Looking up from his half bow at his master, his hands could not help but fiercely tremble at the sides.

"High Lord…?"

"You see Bernard, if you had given me information about Hester's plans beforehand, things wouldn't have been out of my control," Dimitri tried to put another fruit in the robbed person's mouth, but their hands pushed him away in refusal, causing him to frown slightly underneath his mask.

Nonetheless, he picked up another fruit, finally succeeding in feeding them.

"Do you know what this world is to me?"

Bernard straightened his back and fearfully shook his head.

Dimitri gave a soft smile, the tips of his mouth stopping at the edges of his mask, "I see this world like a chessboard. With me being the player, that makes you one of my pawns. But if my pawns have begun to outlive their usefulness…"

At this point, Bernard's jaw was tightly locked. The sweat was constantly trickling down his cheeks but he did not dare to make any big movements. His breath came out haggard and shallow.

"I'd rather get rid of my own pieces before I allow the enemy to get a hold of them. And just like in chess, I expect to be a step ahead of everyone else. Do you understand?"

Bernard could do nothing but hastily nod.

"But you did not understand, Bernard," Dimitri sighed as if he was a worried parent asking after his child's wrongdoings.

"You allowed Hester to upstage and humiliate me in front of everyone. Now, what do you think I should do?" Dimitri leaned his head on the palm of his hand, his finger tapping against his temple as if in deep thought.

Petrified, Bernard did his best not to look up, strictly keeping his dark eyes trained on the brown wooden floor beneath him.

"…I guess I'll do that."

Before understanding what he meant, Bernard suddenly felt a gut wrenching pain come from within. His voice echoed and ricocheted between the walls as he screamed. He couldn't help but crumple on the floor, gasping for air. His entire body was trembling, meanwhile a small trickle of blood dribbled down the side of his mouth.

Mustering all his left-over energy, he stiffly looked up with widened eyes. Dimitri looked down at him with a gentle and harmless smile bracing his face, yet the flames being reflected on his mask only made him look all the more sinister. Bernard's eyes slowly glanced over to the small figure beside Dimitri, only to find something in his hands.

With his face paling even further, he soon realised what was being held in his hand.

"He should still be able to live without one of his kidney's, correct?" Dimitri looked over at the robed figure as he watched them drop the bloody organ onto the floor in disgust.

"I'm not a doctor."

Seeing his own kidney sitting in a pool of his own blood before him, Bernard couldn't help but feel horrified as he listened to their lackadaisical conversation.

"Shame. I allowed him to retain his life due to his many years of service, but if he dies then so be it."

Not wanting to occur more of his master's fury, Bernard slowly stood up shakily, "Thank you for allowing me to keep this pathetic life of mine."

And indeed, Bernard truly was thankful. He understood that what had happened at the charity event was an oversight on his behalf. His master had much bigger and better plans for the future and he could not allow his foolish errors to impede his path. He believed in his master's vision and he would do anything to help him achieve it. At all costs.

Dimitri sighed, "As long as you know your mistakes. Go and rest. You are dismissed."

Gritting his teeth, Bernard made a painful final bow before trudging towards the door and quietly closing it behind him.

After hearing the door close, the room sunk into silence.

"Alexander De Vere…what an interesting turn of events."

The robed figure reached out for their own piece of fruit, slowly asking, "What do you plan to do about Hester?"

The crackling of the fire filled in the gap of silence.

Dimitri scoffed, "That stupid oaf. I allowed him to have a few resources and now he wants to upstage me. Would you call this 'biting the hand that feeds you'?"

A while later, he looked over and pulled down the figure's hood, revealing their glowing orange eyes. Even more startling was that their hair was not one of the more natural colours usually seen, instead, a head full of white was revealed.

Dimitri contently stroked the small figure's head, "We're going to see them next year at the meeting anyway."

"No. I don't want to go."

Rubbing the side of their face, Dimitri coaxed the small figure, "Come on, we'll be able to have a nice trip there instead of being holed up in the capital. Don't you like eating new fruits? I'll buy you some freshly imported one's when we go there, hmm Leo?"

Leo furrowed his eyebrows but didn't stop Dimitri from rubbing his hair once again.

"Anyway…"

He moved his hand away from Leo's head, the corners of his mouth forming a lazy smile, "I think next year's meeting will be rather amusing."

"Amusing?" Leo asked, confused.

"I have a feeling we'll be meeting many more people in the months to come, whether they're friend… or foe."